WEDNESDAY, March 25, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Cognitive-linguistic deficits in kindergarten are associated with an increased risk for early- and late-emerging dyslexia, according to a study published online March 24 in JAMA Network Open.
Rotem Yinon, Ph.D., from the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities at the University of Haifa in Israel, and colleagues examined whether and to what extent deficits in four cognitive-linguistic domains in kindergarten estimate the risk for early- and late-emerging dyslexia (grades 1 and 4, respectively) in a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Measures, assessed in kindergarten, included phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, letter knowledge, and morphological awareness.
The study included 515 Hebrew-speaking children (mean age, 5.9 years). The researchers found that kindergarten deficits in letter knowledge and phonological awareness were associated with increased risk for dyslexia in grade 1 (odds ratios, 4.75 and 4.17, respectively). Deficits in letter knowledge, morphological awareness, and rapid automatized naming were associated with an increased risk for dyslexia in grade 4 (odds ratios, 3.57, 2.56, and 2.39, respectively), independent of risk in grade 1 (odds ratio, 4.98).
"Pediatricians, as primary health care practitioners, are well positioned to support early identification and intervention, shifting dyslexia care from reactive to preventive and reducing long-term educational and psychosocial consequences," the authors write.